PAL to deploy 2 B777s on flights to London, US
Two Boeing 777–300 ER units, slated for delivery in December, will be deployed on Philippine Airlines flights to London and the US.
“The Boeing aircraft will serve the Manila–London route, a move designed to primarily enhance the total passenger travel experience and inflight service delivery. While we already have eight triple 7s serving the West Coast, the incoming units will also augment other trans-pacific flights”, PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Jaime J. Bautista said Monday.
“The Boeing 777 is our flagship aircraft for long-haul operations. With its range and operational capability, the flag carrier will be at par with other full service carriers along the route. We will also increase capacity as the aircraft will have a 370-seating capacity on a two–class configuration (42 on business and 328 on economy) as compared to the 254-seating capacity of the A340,” Bautista added.
The acquisition of the carrier’s 9th and 10th B777s is based on a long-term lease agreement with Intrepid Aviation.
During the 2016 delivery of PAL’s 7th and 8th B777, Intrepid president and chief commercial officer Doug Winter said, “Intrepid and Philippine Airlines have enjoyed a strong partnership dating back to 2013. The Philippines is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the airline has been enjoying a strong, profitable growth trajectory over the past few years.”
PAL aims to be the country’s full-service five star airline in five years.
The journey towards reaching this goal is the implementation of flagship initiatives such as fleet modernization which includes the acquisition of six brand new Airbus A3350s for delivery starting mid-2018 and the reconfiguration of eight monoclass Airbus A330s to tri-class lay-out by mid July. AU
